What’s more, I’m currently working with an illustrator on a not-for-children children’s book that will be published through through them. (Details on that will be forthcoming.)
Subterranean Press publishes gorgeous books. Beautiful paper. Beautiful bindings. Stuff by great authors. Stuff that’s out of print. Stuff by Neil Gaiman, Tim Powers, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury….
The last time I bought stuff off their website, I looked at my shopping cart and found myself thinking, “Next time I sell them a story, I should just negotiate my contract in store credit and cut out the middle man.”
So when Bill contacted me, saying he was willing to donate some books to my Heifer Fundraiser, I was understandably delighted. Thrilled, in fact.
Then he sent me the list. I was stunned. 120 books. Beautiful hardcovers. Many of them limited editions. Many of them sold out. Most of them signed.
All told, over 8,000 dollars worth of books.
Yeah. They’re awesome.
Subterranean Press has Donated
10 copiesof each of the following.
- Ten sets of Last Call, Expiration Date, and Earthquake Weather by Tim Powers. Signed, numbered, limited edition sets.
Last Call was the book that really convinced me Tim Powers was brilliant, and the two sequels are just as good. These are matched, limited-edition, numbered sets, signed by Tim Powers himself.
I have it on good authority that owning these books will give you the strength of ten men, cure any illness afflicting you, and grant you eternal youth.
If you don’t believe me, then how about trusting the Los Angeles Daily News when they say Last Call is “Riveting…lyrical and brutal…a thrilling tale of gambling, fate and fantastic adventure.”
- Ten copies of Project Moonbase and Others by Robert A. Heinlein. Signed and introduced by John Scalzi. Signed by artist Bob Eggleton.
This is a book of revived, never produced (except for a pilot to the series the book was to have become) teleplays by Robert A. Heinlein, mainly adapted from his stories. Paul Di Filippo, for SciFi Weekly says, “All these narratives are gripping and full of hooks and typically engaging Heinlein characters [….] The stories have proved themselves in print for half a century, and their virtues survive the transition to a different medium.”
- Ten copies of The Empress of Mars by Kage Baker. Signed, limited edition.
Ursula K. Le Guin tells us, “Keep your eye on Kage Baker! You never know where she’s heading next, but its always worth going there. She’s an edgy, funny, complex, ambitious writer with the mysterious, true gift of story-telling.”
- Ten copies of The Adventures of Langdon St. Ives by James P. Blaylock.
According to author Charles de Lint, “Blaylock allows us to see the mundane world through new eyes, to perceive the familiar as strange, and therefore exciting.”
- Ten copies of Ascendanciesby Bruce Sterling.
An anthology of stories by Bruce Sterling, who, according to
Strange Horizons, “has done perhaps as much as the work of any other single author to define cyberpunk, steampunk, post-cyberpunk and indeed, the broader course of the genre’s development in the last three decades.”
- Ten copies of The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox by Barry Hughart. Signed by the author.
Years ago, I was at a party at Worldcon, desperately trying to and prove that I fit in with all these other writer types. After a while, I ended up in a conversation that included a bunch of aspiring writers (myself included) and Larry Niven. We were talking about all sorts of things. Writing, the portrayal of magic… general geeky writing talk. Good stuff.
I mentioned Bridge of Birds by Barry Hugart as being a gorgeous book. Nobody else in the group had read it… except Larry Niven, who agreed enthusiastically. Needless to say, I felt pretty cool….
Hugart’s books have been out-of-print for a long while. But they’re back, collected here. So now you can read them and feel cool too.
In a starred review, Publisher’s Weekly says, “Reading Hughart’s endearing historical fantasy trilogy, first published almost 20 years ago, is much like ‘wandering blindfolded through a myth devised by a maniac,’ in the words of Master Li, the greatest and most frequently intoxicated wise man in a colorful seventh century ‘China that never was.’ Their rollicking adventures pit them against everyone from murderers and thieves to emperors and gods. Numerous Chinese legends, filtered through Ox’s simple perspective, blend seamlessly into both lighthearted and heartrending.”
- Ten copies of Retro Pulp Tales, edited by Joe R. Lansdale. Signed by all authors. Limited edition.
- Ten copies of The God of the Razor by Joe R. Lansdale. Signed by the author. Limited edition.
- Ten copies of Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy, edited by William Schafer. Signed by all authors. Limited edition.
This book should look familiar to some of you, as it’s similiar to the one I posted up myself in the original blog when I started the fundraiser. However, these books are much cooler, as they’re signed by ALL the authors.
Booklist said this about the anthology, “All the contributors share a gift for sharp-edged prose that keeps the reader pleasantly perturbed for hours.”
- Ten copies of Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. Signed by the author.
Joe Hill’s first novel won a lot of awards, including the Locus Award for best debut fantasy of 2007. Good on him.
His book was described by the Herald Tribune as “a wild, mesmerizing, perversely witty tale of horror [….] In a book much too smart to sound like the work of a neophyte, he builds character invitingly and plants an otherworldly surprise around every corner.”
Lastly,
some people have been asking me if I plan on continuing to match all the donations made. Some people have expressed concerns that I will end up homeless on the street, eating tuna out of a can with my fingers and talking to invisible people.First, let me reassure you that I will be continuting to match donations until December 11th. I can afford it for now, and honestly, if I’m going to be irrisponsible with my money, this is the way I want to go. This is my preferred flavor of stupidity. And besides, if I don’t do something like this, I’d just end up blowing it on something cool but stupid.
Second, don’t overestimate my current lifestyle. Anyone who has met me in person knows I pretty much look like a hobo anyway. I only own one pair of shoes, and when you come right down to it, there’s nothing wrong with eating tuna out of the can with your fingers. It saves you the trouble of washing a fork afterwards.
And I already talk to invisible people. I’m a writer. That’s pretty much my job.
So yeah. I’m still matching donations. Bring it on. I’d love to hit $40,000. Let’s show them what happens when high-minded geeks set their minds on making the world a better place.
Hugs and kisses,
pat
